IEA announces Brexit Prize shortlist

31 Oct 2013

Brexit Prize shortlist announced

The Institute of Economic Affairs is delighted to announce the shortlist for the IEA Brexit Prize. In total 149 entries were received. 100 of these were from submitters based in the UK and 49 of them from other countries, including: the USA, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, The Netherlands, Ukraine, Nigeria, Hungary, Zambia, Latvia, Austria, India, Norway, Zimbabwe, Denmark, Belgium, Russia and The Philippines.

The first prize of €100,000 will be awarded to the best blueprint for UK withdrawal from the EU.

There will a special prize of €5,000 for the best entry from an individual aged 30 or under. We received 35 entries from under-31s. The youngest applicant was 15-year-old Kieran Bailey.

Shortlist

· William John Bailey, Kathleen Garner, Laura Stringer

· Kieran Bailey

· David Campbell Bannerman

· James Bennett

· Rory Broomfield and Iain Murray

· Ralph Buckle and Tim Hewish

· Dr. Ciarán Burke and Dr Olafur Hannesson

· Prof Stephen Bush

· Dr Alan Butt Philip

· Ben Clements

· Iain Mansfield

· Dr Richard North

· Robert Oulds

· Daniel Pycock

· Philip Rush

· Miles Saltiel and Charles Proctor

· Lionel Zetter

Commenting on the release of the shortlist, Mark Littlewood, Director General at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said:

“This is a crucial time for Britain as we decide what our relationship with the rest of the world should be. Much of the debate about our relationship with the European Union has focused on the pros and cons of membership. But what is urgently needed is a blueprint for how the UK should arrange its affairs if the British people decide to leave. The Brexit prize is a first, crucial step in providing this vital intellectual groundwork."

Judging panel

· Nigel Lawson (Chairman), The Rt Hon Lord Lawson of Blaby, former Chancellor of the Exchequer

· David Starkey, British constitutional historian and a Fellow of the Society of Antiquaries of London

· Prof. Philip Booth (Facilitator), Institute of Economic Affairs and Cass Business School

· Roger Bootle, founder of Capital Economics, a Specialist Adviser to the House of Commons Treasury Committee and an Honorary Fellow of the Institute of Actuaries

· Tim Frost, a governor of the LSE and director of Markit and Cairn Capital

· Gisela Stuart, MP for Birmingham Edgbaston and editor of The House Magazine

· Prof. Martin Ricketts, Professor of Economic Organisation at the University of Buckingham

· Dr. Stephen Davies, Institute of Economic Affairs

Notes to editors:

1. The IEA believes that we need to give serious consideration to how the UK could have a free and prosperous economy outside the EU, given that exit is a serious possibility after the next election.

Entrants are asked to imagine a referendum has resulted in an “Out” vote and Her Majesty’s Government has triggered Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty. Against this background, they are invited to compose a Blueprint for Britain outside the EU, covering the process of withdrawal and the post-exit repositioning of the UK in the global trading and governance systems.

Initial submissions were around 2,000 words in length. The competition’s initial judging panel is now inviting the authors of the 17 shortlisted entries to make full submissions of between 10,000 and 20,000 words within a further four months. The deadline for entries is Monday 12 February 2013.

William Bailey graduated in mathematics, then took a doctorate in that subject. He later worked in the IT industry in both the UK and continental Europe. More recently he worked for the Office for National Statistics in inflation and GDP calculations prior to his recent retirement.

Kathleen Garner graduated in modern languages and worked in both the UK and Germany, then later for the Office for National Statistics prior to her recent retirement. Both William Bailey and Kathleen Garner are Fellows of the Royal Statistical Society.

Laura Stringer works for and is a senior member of a small engineering company in the UK. She is currently taking a degree in law whilst working for this company.

Kieran Bailey is a fifteen year old studying at school in Taunton.

David Campbell Bannerman is Conservative MEP for the East of England. He was first elected to the European Parliament in June 2009. He was the Communications Director for the transport organisation (ATOC) and for the website division of a top PLC. During the Irish Peace Process, David served as Special Adviser to Sir Patrick Mayhew, then Secretary of State for Northern Ireland.

James Bennett is a writer and entrepreneur. He was co-founder of two private space transportation companies and other technology ventures. He has written extensively on technology, culture, and society. He is best known for his writing on the concept of the Anglosphere, the emerging global community of English-speaking peoples.

Rory Broomfield and Iain Murray

Rory Broomfield is Deputy Director of The Freedom Association and Director of the Better Off Out campaign. Rory has worked for a number of prominent Conservative Members of Parliament and small businesses. He is also a former Director and Board Member of the United Nations Association in the UK (UNA-UK) and holds a First Class degree in Politics from the University of York along with Masters degrees from both City University London and Warwick Business School.

Iain Murray is Vice President for Strategy at the Competitive Enterprise Institute in Washington DC. He is the author of the best-selling books, The Really Inconvenient Truths and Stealing You Blind: How Government Fat Cats Are Getting Rich Off of You. Before joining CEI, he was Senior Analyst and then Director of Research at the Statistical Assessment Service

Ralph Buckle and Tim Hewish

Ralph Buckle is Director and Co-Founder of Commonwealth Exchange. He works as a logistics, campaigns, and social media specialist with a catalogue of experience from think-tanks, consultancies, Parliament and at Dods Parliamentary Services.

Tim Hewish is Director and Co-Founder, Commonwealth Exchange. He read for a Masters in Imperial & Commonwealth History at King’s College London. He currently works as a researcher for a Conservative Member of Parliament. He recently authored, Common-Trade, Common-Growth, Common-Wealth, an inquiry into the establishment of freer trade, growth and prosperity across Britain and the Commonwealth.

Dr. Ciarán Burkeand Dr Olafur Hannesson

Dr. Ciarán Burke is a lecturer in EU law at the University of Passau, and a visiting lecturer at the Brussels School of International Studies. His first book, An Equitable Framework for Humanitarian Intervention was published by Hart Publishing this year, and has been nominated for three awards. Dr. Burke has also worked for the European University Institute in Florence, Italy, and is involved in a number of international research projects.

Dr. Ólafur Hannesson received his Ph.D. from the European University Institute in 2013, which dealt with the relationship between the Icelandic courts and the EFTA Court. It received significant praise from the jury, which included the former Advocate-General of the ECJ, Miguel Poiares Maduro. He has published a number of well-received articles on matters relating to European law, and is in the process of writing his first book.

Prof Stephen Bush is Emeritus Professor of Process Manufacture and of Polymer Engineering at the University of Manchester. He has also been a well-known campaigner on political issues over a period of some 25 years. He has written 5 substantial pamphlets on economic, political and educational issues and been a contributor to most of the major British TV and radio current affairs programmes.

Dr Alan Butt Philip is Honorary Reader in European Integration in the School of Management at the University of Bath. He was educated at Eton College (King’s Scholar) and St John’s College and Nuffield College, Oxford (Ist Class Hons.PPE, and DPhil). Before joining Bath University in 1975, he was a financial controller at the 3iGroup specialising in small firms’ finance. He has written extensively about the European single market and the role of lobbying in the EU. For nine years he was specialist adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on EC Affairs. He is currently visiting professor at the Charles University in Prague and the ESIC Business and Marketing School in Madrid.

Ben Clements is reading for a BA (hons) in Chinese and Japanese at the University of Manchester.

Iain Mansfield is Director of Trade and Investment at the British Embassy in Manila. Prior to this, he has held a number of roles in the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and its predecessor departments, including in science, trade policy and competition. Iain is also the author of the novel Imperial Visions and has a Masters in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge.

Dr Richard North is a political researcher and analyst, blogger and author. He is a former local government official, and came through trade politics to work for Westminster MPs, then spending four years working in the European Parliament.

Robert Oulds is Director of the Bruges Group. Since 2002 he has also served his community as a local government councillor in a London borough. This led him to become a Chairman of Planning and he was the Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services. His involvement in politics also led to him becoming chairman of two parliamentary constituency associations.

Daniel Pycock recently graduated from the University of St. Andrews, having studied History and Economics. He has conducted research for a number of writers on subjects including the early life of Colonel Qaddafi, the economic histories of Hong Kong, New Zealand and Singapore, and the economy of the United Kingdom circa.1918-1989. He has also worked at the Adam Smith Institute, where he evaluated the policies of the ECB, the NHS, DfID and the Bank of England, and undertaken research on Incapacity Benefit waste prior to the 2010 general election.

Philip Rush is Chief UK Economist at Nomura, with research specialties in supply side economics, dynamics and financial markets. He is also a member of TheCityUK’s independent economists group. He joined Nomura in February 2010 from Barclays Wealth where he was UK Economist. Prior to that, he was in the Lehman Brothers Global Economics team, focussing on the UK and Scandinavian economies.

Miles Saltiel and Charles Proctor

Miles Saltiel is CEO of the Fourth Phoenix Company, a Senior Fellow of the Adam Smith Institute and an award-winning City analyst. His recent publications include The revenue and growth effects of Britain’s high taxes (with Peter Young), Bank regulation: can we trust the Vickers report? (with Tim Ambler), On borrowed time, and No reason to flinch.

Charles Proctor is partner in the London law firm, Fladgate LLP, an honorary professor in the School of Law, University of Birmingham and a Fellow of the Institute of Advanced Legal Studies. He has practised banking and finance law for over 30 years. In addition to his professional work, his body of publications includes the seventh edition of Mann on the Legal Aspect of Money, the leading work on the private and international law of money, The Law and Practice of International Banking, and The Euro and the Financial Markets: The Legal Impact of EMU. He has also published extensively on issues such as the implications of withdrawal from the euro zone and Scottish independence.

Lionel Zetter is a public affairs consultant, author, trainer and lecturer. He is a director of the Enterprise Forum, Zetter’s Political Services Ltd, and The European Azerbaijan Society and Vice President of Public Affairs Asia. He is a former Senior Counsel at APCO Worldwide, and a former Conservative election agent and parliamentary candidate. He is a past President of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations, and he is a Fellow of the CIPR, the Royal Society of the Arts and the Public Relations Consultants Association.

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